Sorry if I am being a pain with all these questions. The one for today: does anyone have price ranges for getting NOCs if that is the only thing that the client needs, ie; not taking the pet in as baggage/cargo, but rather in-cabin, for which I will make all the arrangements myself.

The only thing I will need is two NOCs (I have two dogs) for Chennai. I emailed Fuzzy Wuzzy, one of the importers on my list because they have good recommendations, but they gave me a quote of 75,000 rupees for each dog ($1160 USD), about $2300 USD in total for both if I am calculating correctly. That seems pretty steep for just getting the NOCs.

According to the post linked to below on a non-Miker's blog, the amount the blogger paid at the time (3 years ago) for an NOC for Bombay was $290. I understand that the passage of time might have increased the cost to some degree, and that for some reason it might cost more to get an NOC for Chennai, but do not understand why it would cost almost 5 times more. B/t/w, the post is a pretty good summary of the procedure for US to India pet importation for those looking for such a thing.

You might want to contact Universal Relocations. They quoted me 12,500 Rs for importing my cat into Chennai. The service includes getting an NOC, clearing customs at airport. getting provisional the next day and final clearance after a month.

Sasi that is awesome. Thanks for coming through in the clutch for me again. I actually wrote to Fuzzy Wuzzy again to clarify because I thought there had to have been a failure in communication of some sort, but I guess there was none. It was a fairly polite, but nonetheless decided, response (see below.) That is a great hourly payment rate for the amount of time I would think this would take, even in the US, it must be astronomical in India.

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"I do understand you only need an NOC for the dogs . However, the NOC is an import permit for the dogs and there is a lot of documentation and formalities that go hand in hand in the process.

While I cannot comment on what other relocators or agents charge, I am here to assure you that when we undertake documentation on your behalf for your pets, there will be no problem when the pets arrive and they will not go into quarantine at all.
Yes, I am probably the most expensive agent in the country , but my services speak for itself."

P.S. I wish I could like your post two thousand times, since you might be saving me about that much in dollars, but the system only lets me do it once I am certainly willing to buy you a bottle of your choice in duty free and send it on to your Indian address if you want though!

Hahaha.. I definitely need that after all the stressing out I'm doing right now.

If you don't mind me asking, are you moving to India on a transfer of residence? If that's the case, most of the agents I contacted are charging around 13k. If you are just vacationing in India and state that you are not intending to move there, you would have to apply a DGFT license before you can get an NOC which is more complex.

I would call other re-locators as well. You should look for someone with their office in the port of entry to avoid any miscommunication when you land there.

I re-read your post and seems like your agent is suggesting that higher cost correlates to lesser chances of quarantine. Wow.. these guys really know how to milk our emotions. Is there a rule based method to determine in what cases a pet gets quarantined.

I think the quarantine thing is a red herring, I've read about a bunch of relocations and have never heard of a pet going to quarantine. Denied entry or exit, yes. Quarantine, no. I'm sure it happens on occasion, but I think any reasonably experienced relocation agent should be able to avoid that if provided with the right documents for the NOC.

B/t/w, Fuzzy Flyers gave me a quote for 18,000 INR, 36,000 for both, and they were well reviewed by a number of posters, so that is another good option. That only covers the NOC itself, though, they are clear that you have to negotiate customs/terminal exit by yourself. I assume based on that they don't deal with the provisional/final certificate either. And am not sure if they have staff in Chennai, as I think they are Mumbai based.

I also heard from Yashban, they cost the same things as Fuzzy Wuzzy - 75k - and provide docs only, so they are out for me as well.

I've had a change in plans because I was traveling to spend time with my dad, who is ill. I was going to stay for at least a year and thought I had the time to wait for my OCI visa (which I will need to take the dogs in) to come through. His condition has suddenly taken a turn for the worse, so I am actually just going to leave next week on my 10 yr tourist visa. If he gets better and can spare me for a bit after a while I will just come back to the US in a month or so and pick up the dogs to take back with me then. It is going to be awful without them, though. I just came back from a six week visit there and swore I would never leave them for that long again, but, you know, life.

I hope you have a flawless move and will keep updating about your thoughts on the process though. I think this information is valuable to those of us who are making long term stays with the furry captors of our hearts. Little monsters.

Originally Posted by not_allyI think the quarantine thing is a red herring, I've read about a bunch of relocations and have never heard of a pet going to quarantine. Denied entry or exit, yes. Quarantine, no. I'm sure it happens on occasion, but I think any reasonably experienced relocation agent should be able to avoid that if provided with the right documents for the NOC. ...

I hope your dad recovers well enough to enjoy the doggies.

The UK has strict quarantine procedures. No relocation agent can circumvent the rules (legally) here. I understand that the Ozzies and the Kiwis are stricter. Don't mess with the rules for any given country. Don't misinform people (id est, future readers here).

I probably was not clear enough, I meant that in reading many posts about relocation to *India* I had not read of one resulting in quarantine. I have no idea what quarantine rules are anywhere else, so hope I did not mislead anyone. Also, I am the last person to advise anyone to mess with the rules of a given country, I did mergers and acquisitions work for a while and dealt with local counsel from all over the place, it would have been impossible to structure deals without their expertise. It is hard enough to attempt to figure out US law, I have no interest in either messing with other nations' laws or recommending that anyone else do it!

Thanks for the good wishes, I'll take all the positive energy I can get.